Clinton judge dismisses DNC email lawsuit against Trump

Is Wray next on Trump's list?

The FBI is going to court to fight the public release of a small number of documents the State Department sent to agents from Christopher Steele, the British intelligence operative and Hillary Clinton-paid political muckraker, during the 2016 election.

The FBIs July 10 court filing speaks volumes about Director Christopher Wrays efforts to thwart the public understanding of what really happened in the FBIs now-debunked Russia collusion probe.

Steeles contacts at State cant possibly be equated to the nations most sensitive secrets. The same research he provided to State and the FBI in fall 2016 was being provided to Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, and to the media.

The FBI under Wray is trying to keep secret information that would likely (according to Solomon's sources) cast doubt on the veracity and credibility of Steele's information, which was used days later to apply for a surveilance warrant from the FISC. While we have only seen redacted versions of that document publicly, the FISA does state that no negative information about Steele as known. We've already seen other messages from Kavalec (at State) to the FBI about Steele and his information -- messages that noted major flaws such as the reference to a non-existent Russian consulate in Miami.

Wray is abusing the classification system to try to protect bad actors at the FBI from the consequences of their actions, along with, perhaps, the reputation of his agency. But neither deserves that protection.

The way to protect the reputation of the FBI is to root out the bad actors and subject them to the full force of the law for their transgressions, and then reform the policies and procedures as necessary to prevent any repeat offenses.

That should start with Wray. Obstruction of justice seems appropriate.

Beto wants credit card companies to impose gun control

The Left have been nibbling around the edges of this idea for a while, but this is the first time I've noticed one of their candidates pushing it openly instead of trying to sneak it in through the back door with pressure from regulators quietly. They think that with the NRA distracted they can run on this and break the ability of gun owners to stop their gun confiscation laws. That's pretty bad. Worse, though, is that they can try to apply this sort of pressure outside of traditional political channels. They don't even have to win elections or appoint biddable judges. They think they can do it with public relations pressure on a few key gatekeepers. Let's make sure they are wrong.

IG turns in FISA abuse report to DOJ

The Justice Departments inspector general told Congress on Friday that he completed his investigation into possible FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the Trump-Russia probe, and has sent a draft version of his report to the Justice Department and FBI for review.

We have now begun the process of finalizing our report by providing a draft of our factual findings to the Department and the FBI for classification determination and marking, Michael Horowitz, the inspector general, said in a letter to several congressional committees.

This is supposed to be the big kahuna, the report that breaks the scandal wide open and puts people in jail. While we may see a lot of information become public, I've grown skeptical on Barr's ability and desire to bring actual prosecutions. Notably, we got this news on Friday the 13th, the week of 9-11, in the late afternoon. That's where stories go to die. And the IG is an Obama appointee who has already whitewashed the Clinton investigation.

There are still review steps that need to take place before any actual release, so if the usual pattern holds, we'll see leaks from the report designed to spin it as much as possible before it is actually released. Any big SpyGate news breaks in the next few weeks, figure that's what it is doing, and read it closely.

The Side-Takers

Read the whole thing. I'm not 100% sure I agree with the premise -- that the generation usually known as the Millennials is really made up of two extremely polarized groups driving the current political conflict -- but I'm not 100% sure I reject it either. The left-ward side fits: Antifa, gender and pronoun police, and so on. I'm just not seeing so much of the other side of that coin. Some, to be sure.

The thing about Barr that bugs me...

is his connection to Ruby Ridge. If he was willing to cover up what happened there, where 3 innocent people died, why would he be unwilling to cover up FISA abuse and political spying? And even if Barr is honest and trying to expose the abuse -- still an open question -- then wouldn't his involvement in Ruby Ridge serve as leverage to the people at the FBI and DOJ desperately trying to cover their asses in the present?

Prosecutors recommend charges for McCabe

Federal prosecutors recommended seeking criminal charges against Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI and a frequent target of criticism by President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the decision Thursday.

The U.S. attorney in Washington, Jessie Liu, recommended moving forward with unspecified charges against McCabe, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly. McCabe's lawyers appealed that decision to Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who rejected their request, one of the people said. McCabe's lawyers were informed of that decision Thursday.

The decision clears the way for prosecutors to ask a grand jury to indict McCabe, though it was unclear Thursday whether that would happen. Whether McCabe is indicted will be up to a federal grand jury in Washington.

McCabe is merely the first of many scapegoats and fall guys to be offered up to assuage the public fury. But notice how "it was unclear... whether that would happen". Jessie Liu, who has already made decisions not to prosecute other SpyGate figures, doesn't want to go out on a limb publicly and recommend against for McCabe. But there are other people who can say no, and the grand jury itself (convened in DC) might decline. A prosecutor who doesn't really want to indict can easily convince a grand jury to make that decision for her.

And still not even a hint of charges for Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Nellie, Strzok... never mind the real decision-makers, Clinton and Obama.

FBI caught withholding evidence in Flynn case

They claimed they lost their own notes and are still refusing to produce evidence Flynn's new lawyer can describe with specificity. Note that they aren't denying it exists; they just won't give it to the defense. There are also allegations that additional Page/Strzok messages were withheld, along with evidence Mifsud was working for the FBI.

IG report finds FISA warrants illegal

The long awaited DOJ Inspector Generals report on the FBIs applications to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is now finished and is currently undergoing the declassification process. It is expected to be released sometime this month. Unlike the IGs recent report on James Comeys interactions with President Trump which accused Comey of breaking FBI rules and policies, this report will focus on violations of the law. It will answer the question we all want answered. Did James Comeys FBI acquire warrants to spy on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page illegally? If the recent buzz is correct, the report concludes that all four warrants were obtained illegally.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) appeared on Hannity on Monday night and said he expects the report to find that the FBI actions were illegal. Jordan is the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Fox News Gregg Jarrett said he absolutely agreed.

On Monday, Washington lawyer and former U.S. Attorney Joe DiGenova told Washingtons WMAL that, I can report categorically that the inspector general has found that all four FISA warrants were illegal. They were based on false information supplied to the FISA Court. And Michael Horowitz has concluded that all four FISA warrants were illegal.

That sounds positive, but my cynical side is saying that if they were going to actually charge people, they would be hyping that. If they are hyping "the IG found the FISA warrants illegal" that means they don't have actual charges to hype.

I suppose I could be wrong. It's possible the report includes criminal referrals that will be prosecuted or unsealed at a later date. We'll see.

FBI analyst admits snooping on political opponent's emails

It wasn't using his government authority, but rather the trusted position his wife had in working for the man whose emails he stole, shopped to the media, and presented to his superiors. But why would I trust him to follow the rules with access to national security secrets when he can't be trusted in small things?

Not Forgotten

Hillary is coming

Another look at the Marina Butina case?

This is the case where a Russian woman was accused by the FBI of, basically, conducting honeypot-style attempts at gaining political influence within the US by pretending to be interested in gun rights and using contacts within the NRA.

The case has many parallels with the Flynn and Papadopoulos cases. So far as I know, the only thing Maria is actually accused of is having contacts in Russia and taking some direction from them. The biggest question mark was whether she was sleeping with people to gain influence with them. If that part was something initiated by the FBI informant she was sleeping with, well, it puts a different spin on things, doesn't it?

It shouldn't be illegal to come to the US and talk about politics and political issues like the right to keep and bear arms, even if you are coordinating with people who share your opinions in your home country. I don't know if that's ALL she was doing, or trying to do, but when the FBI's own confidential informant says we should take a second look at the case because she's being treated unfairly and the FBI is withholding exculpatory information, we should pay attention. Especially in the context of the Russia Hoax. This looks like it's very much a part of the same frame job.

Two Somali "refugees" arrested for supporting ISIS

The Conservative Treehouse has details. Supporting terrorism seems to be substantially more likely among the Somali refugee population. This is why it's a bad ideal to import masses of refugees from foreign cultures who are not likely to assimilate well.

The only legitimate explanation I have for why the FBI might refuse to provide them to Congress is the classic "ongoing investigation". If McCabe is still at risk for charges, the FBI would be right to keep a lot of those messages secret until that matter is resolved. Or, they might be just using that as an excuse; the FBI has squandered any credit they had in this matter long ago.

About that media bias that doesn't exist...

A Massachusetts mayor gets arrested for bribes and kickbacks. One of the kickbacks was right out of the third world -- allegedly giving someone a job and demanding half their salary as a kickback. He also allegedly demanded cash payments for writing letters of non-opposition to marijuana businesses and demanded personal gifts in exchange for basic city services like activating water service to a new building.

Not mentioned until the 5th paragraph: he is a Democrat.

(Pretty sure that was not mentioned at all in the first version of the story I read; it was there when I wrote this post the next day, though).

Power's unmasking crusade

Last Friday we heard White House plans to declassify documents showing that Samantha Power was on a one-woman crusade for the Palestinians and against Israel in 2016.

Power  Obamas Ambassador to the United Nations  targeted any phone call made about Israeli settlements, unmasked the caller, and passed the information to Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who opened a Logan Act investigation.

If, in fact, this is the explanation for Power's unmaskings, they are patently illegal.

DOJ sends gun legislation to White House

The Department of Justice has sent a package of legislative proposals on gun violence to the White House, a person familiar with the matter told Fox News, as the debate rages over how lawmakers and the president should respond to a recent spate of deadly mass shootings.

The White House has had the proposals for two weeks, according to the source, but has not yet sent anything along to Capitol Hill. It was not immediately clear what proposals are included in the DOJ package.

Gun control is another area where I don't trust Barr. Or Trump. McConnell has already said he will allow votes if Trump supports a proposal. It might be a good idea to contact the White House and encourage Trump to shut down any gun control proposals if he wants a second term.